Since the 1990s, German artist Wolfgang
Tillmans has been an inspiration to new
generations of photographers, from his
early snapshot-like photographs of youth
culture and raves to his current body of
abstracted darkroom experiments. Throughout his career, Tillmans
has been able to find beauty almost anywhere, making considered
portraits, seemingly mundane objects, meditative landscapes and
sweeping color fields all part of his vast oeuvre. He also became known
for his unique non-hierarchal exhibition presentation, placing prints
of magazine spreads and original photographs together, tacked up
flat on the walls in unexpected groupings as if to solve a larger visual
equation.

Hatje Cantz’s major survey of his work, titled Wolfgang Tillmans,
brings the many facets of his work together in a 304-page monograph,
featuring 383 images and a multitude of texts, with excerpts from
interviews, artist talks, unpublished emails and notes spanning two
decades. The monograph was published to accompany Fondation
Beyeler’s retrospective of Tillmans’s work, which was on view during
Art Basel 2017 in Switzerland and coincided with another retrospective
of Tillmans’s work at Tate Modern in London.

Despite the volume of his work, Tillmans rejects the notion that his
images are “random” or “everyday.” In an interview with The Guardian

in 2017, he says: “They are, in fact, the opposite. They are calls to
attentiveness.”

—Jacqui Palumbo

Obama:
An Intimate
Portrait

By Pete Souza

Little, Brown and Company
Hardcover, 352 pages, $50

Though he was formally assigned as the Chief Official White House
Photographer for president Barack Obama, Pete Souza was much more
than a camera-ready photojournalist documenting the former POTUS
on Air Force One, in the Oval Office and on family vacations in Martha’s
Vineyard. Souza was also a close friend to the commander in chief, a
connection that elevates his new book Obama: An Intimate Portrait from
purely documentary to visual biography, depicting Obama as both
serious politician and doting family man.

Souza’s photography, presented in chronological order with captions
and behind-the-scenes stories, follows the story of Obama’s presidency—
from his inauguration to the passing of the Affordable Care Act to the
shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School to his final farewell. But Souza
also shares private moments: Christmas shopping with the family dog
Bo, dancing in India with his wife Michelle, catching a baseball game with
President Raúl Castro of Cuba—just to scratch the surface.

Souza’s attention to meaningful interactions and powerful details
reflects his efforts to go above and beyond his role and to forge
relationships with not just the president, but those around him. Whether
in the presidential motorcade with Malia and Sasha Obama, behind the
scenes at a political rally or perched in a doorframe at the Oval Office,
Souza not only leveraged his connection with the president, but also the
First Family, the White House staff and many others along his journey in
the White House Photo Office.

Adding to the already impressive roster of images is a forward from the
man himself. Writes Obama: “Over those eight years, Pete became more
than my photographer—he became a friend, a confidant and a brother.”